Technique to identify interesting print articles for later retrieval and use of the electronic version of the articles

• US 6,904,171 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2000
• Issued: 06/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: van Zee, Pieter J.
• Primary Examiner(s): MARIAM, DANIEL G
• Application Number:
  US09/738,209
• Publication Number:
  US 20020076110A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,635 Days
• Field of Search: 382/173, 382/181, 382/209, 382/218, 382/224, 382/229, 382/305, 382/306, 358/403, 705/26, 707 1- 10, 709/219, 709/203
• US Class Current: 382/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system for efficient information storage and retrieval of information. The method includes the steps of: scanning/selecting/capturing a selected portion of text of the information wherein the selected portion of text scanned is typically a close-to-unique identifier of the text from which the portion was excerpted and serves as a key when the information is accessed electronically; and placing the key in an electronically available index/directory to facilitate retrieval of the information. The method may further include retrieving and storing the information associated with the key and using it to index, organize, and make available for search and retrieval the full information originally viewed by the user.

Claims

1. A method for efficient information storage and retrieval of information, comprising the steps of:

capturing with a scanner a selected portion of text of printed information wherein the selected portion of text captured is user defined topic classification indicia keys with a close-to-unique identifier of the text for recommending user defined topic matters, and serves as a key when the information is accessed electronically;

placing the key in an electronically available index to facilitate retrieval of the information; and

recommending topic matters based on the user defined topic classification indicia keys of previously scanned text of printed information and previously stored electronic information that are related to the printed information being captured during retrieval of the printed information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein a portion of the information is in electronic form and the method further includes a step of storing the electronic information in a storage medium and making the electronic information available for search and retrieval using the key.

3. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of scanning and processing the information to provide an electronic copy of the information, storing the electronic copy of the information in a storage medium and making the electronic copy available for search and retrieval using the key.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the information is stored in a non-commercially accessible database.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the information is obtained from a commercially accessible database.

6. The method of claim 1 further including, upon the user requesting retrieval of information associated with the key, providing the information associated therewith.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the recommended topic matters include at least one of related uniform resource locators (URLs) to web pages, maps, books, and related articles.

8. The method of claim 1 further including clipping and holding the selected portion of text as a key for accessing information that is electronically available at a later date.

9. A system for efficient information storage and retrieval of information, comprising:

an index information retrieval unit, arranged to send a selected portion of text of printed information to an index storage unit, for capturing with a scanner the selected portion of text of the information wherein the selected portion of text is a user defined topic classification indicia key with a close-to-unique identifier of the text and serves as a topic classification key for recommending user defined topic matters when the information is desired to be accessed electronically;

the index storage unit, arranged to receive and store the user defined topic classification indicia key from the index information retrieval unit, for placing the key in an electronically available index to facilitate retrieval of the information from a storage medium that is accessible electronically; and

the storage medium that is accessible electronically, wherein the storage medium is arranged to be searched using the key held in the index to identify information in the storage medium that corresponds to the key,

wherein a computer unit is arranged to send and receive information from and to the index storage unit and the storage medium, and is arranged to request retrieval of information based on the key and configured for recommending topic matters based on keys of previously scanned text of printed information and previously stored electronic information that are related to the printed information being captured during retrieval of the information.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the information is in electronic form and the information is stored in electronic form in a storage medium and made accessible for search and retrieval and presentation.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the information is printed and the information is scanned to provide an electronic copy of the information which is then stored in a storage medium and made accessible for search and retrieval and presentation.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the information is stored in a non-commercially accessible database.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the information is obtained from a commercially accessible database.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the information is obtained from local accessible storage media.

15. The system of claim 9 further including, upon the user requesting retrieval of information associated with the key, providing the information associated therewith.

16. The system of claim 9 wherein further related information is also provided that is correlated with at least one of:

the key and associated information.

17. The system of claim 9 wherein the selected portion of text is a “

clip and hold”

key for accessing information that is electronically available at a later date.

18. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps for efficient information storage and retrieval of information, comprising the steps of:

capturing with a scanner a selected portion of text of printed information wherein the selected portion of text scanned is a user defined topic classification indicia key with a close-to-unique identifier of the text and serves as a topic classification key for recommending user defined topic matters and where the information is stored and accessed electronically;

placing the key in an electronically available index to facilitate retrieval of the information; and

recommending topic matters based on the user defined topic classification indicia keys of previously scanned text of printed information and previously stored electronic information that are related to the information being captured during retrieval of the printed information.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the information is in electronic form and the steps further include retrieving and indexing the information context identified by the index for fast retrieval and processing.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the information is in electronic form and the steps further include a step of storing the electronic information in a storage medium and making the electronic information accessible for search and retrieval and presentation.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the information is printed and the steps further include steps of scanning and processing the information to provide an electronic copy of the information and storing the electronic copy of the information in a storage medium and making the electronic copy accessible for search and retrieval and presentation.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the information is stored in non-commercially accessible database.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the information is obtained from a commercially accessible database.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the steps further include, upon the user requesting retrieval of information associated with the key, providing the information associated therewith.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein further related information is also provided that is correlated with at least one of:

the key and associated information.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the selected portion of text is a “

clip and hold”

key for accessing information that is electronically available at a later date.

27. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps for efficient information storage and retrieval of information, comprising the steps of:

capturing with a scanner a selected portion of text of incoming printed information wherein the selected portion of text scanned is user defined topic classification indicia keys with a close-to-unique identifier of the text and serves as a topic classification key for recommending user defined topic matters when the incoming printed information is stored and accessed electronically;

placing the key in an electronically available index on a web page accessible area to facilitate search and retrieval of desired incoming information; and

recommending topic matters based on the user defined topic classification indicia keys of previously scanned text of printed information and previously stored electronic information that are related to the information being captured during retrieval of the printed information.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 27 wherein the information is in electronic form and the steps further include a step of storing the incoming electronic information in a local distributed storage medium and making the electronic information available for search and retrieval and presentation.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 27 wherein the incoming information is printed and the steps further include steps of scanning and processing the information to provide an electronic copy of the information and storing the electronic copy of the information in a storage medium and making the electronic copy available for search and retrieval and presentation.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 27 wherein the incoming information is stored in an electronic database.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 27 wherein the incoming information is obtained from a commercially accessible database.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 27 further including, upon the user requesting retrieval of information associated with the key, providing the information associated therewith.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 27 wherein further related information is also provided that is correlated with at least one of:

the key and associated information.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 27 wherein the selected portion of text is a “

clip and hold”

key for accessing incoming information that is electronically available at a later date.